Fewer Than 50 Percent of Global Consumers Trust Businesses to Protect Their Financial and Payments Data

Consumers across the globe are more concerned with protecting their financial and payments information stored on a computer than they are with protecting this data when stored on a mobile wallet, according to new benchmark data, “Global Consumer Survey: Consumer Trust and Security Perceptions,” from ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW) and Aite Group. The global fraud study of more than 6,000 consumers across 20 countries revealed that only 43 percent of global consumers trust businesses, including restaurants and merchants, to protect their financial data — while surprisingly, more than 80 percent of global consumers generally believe their mobile wallet data is secure.

As payments are increasingly shifting to mobile devices and global fraud continues to rise, consumers must be vigilant about mobile fraud protection. Across the globe, consumers are adapting to technology advancements — including the ubiquity of mobile wallets and a continued shift to online shopping — impacting their perceptions around payments data security.

Principal study findings include:

Global consumers are not confident in firms’ abilities to protect their stored data; only in the U.S., (54%), India (60%) and Thailand (51%) do consumers report at least 50 percent confidence that their stored data is well-protected

Across all regions, the top security concern is theft by computer hacking (32% in the U.S., 45% in Germany, 37% in Indonesia)

Globally, over 80 percent of consumers think their mobile wallet’s personal and financial information is secure

After experiencing fraud or a data breach, 65 percent of consumers indicated they would stop shopping with a given merchant

75 percent of consumers globally are very interested in receiving a call or SMS message to their mobile device to help mitigate fraud.

“This data is a further wakeup call to the broader payments industry, including merchants, banks and financial intermediaries, that we must proactively educate consumers about security measures that are in place — to allay consumer concerns, which will not only result in enhanced customer experiences, but also help to reduce fraud losses,” said Andreas Suma, vice president and global lead, fraud and data, ACI Worldwide. “Moreover, consumers must become more proactive in securing their personal data by using the fraud prevention measures and services offered by their financial institutions.”

“Our research shows that consumers want to proactively manage fraud, particularly by leveraging mobile technology — whether it’s text or talk,” said Shirley Inscoe, senior analyst, Aite Group. “This willingness opens opportunities for financial institutions to optimize the ways in which they reach out and communicate with consumers, ultimately improving the customer experience while reducing operational costs and fraud losses.”

ACI Worldwide, a global leader in electronic payments for financial institutions, retailers, and processors, conducted online quantitative market research in April 2016 and surveyed 6,035 consumers. The study was conducted in a total of 20 countries in the following regions:

The Americas: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United States

EMEA: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom

APAC region: Australia, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Singapore. China, Russia, and Poland were removed compared to 2014, and Spain, Thailand, and Hungary were added for 2016.

In total, 6,035 consumers were included in the research — approximately 300 consumers, divided equally between men and women, participated in each of the 20 countries. Of the total, 5,861 own one or more type of payment card — credit card, debit card, or prepaid card. This is the fourth time that ACI has fielded this type of survey, and some comparative results are included from 2012 and 2014. In each country, the data have a margin of error of approximately five points. Statistical tests of significance, where shown, were conducted at the 95% level of confidence.